Keira set down her glass and licked her lips, enjoying the taste of the drink and taking in the pleasant atmosphere of the pub. The Naughty Ottsel was once again alive and almost full to capacity with its usual happy visitors, and more were turning up by the hour. Pretty soon there would be standing room only, but fortunately for her, she was always guaranteed a table these days.
She and the other mechanics had been coming here every night this week, turning it into their regular after-work gathering place, where they could discuss that day's progress, plan for tomorrow, and just generally continue to get to know each other better. They were seated around the table with her, the large centre table which Tess now always reserved just for them, each with their own drinks in hand. By now, Keira had melded into the group as an equal and was no longer always the centre of attention, and often several conversations traded back and forth across the table at once. But tonight, there was only one topic on their lips.
"I can't wait till we get to try out those teleporters ourselves," muttered Mex, sitting beside her. "Can you imagine what it must feel like?"
Many of his listeners around the table shared his fantasy and intrigue. They were all huddled in closely and spoke with hushed voices that were easily lost in the chatter and music of the bar, for they had left Freedom HQ today with orders to reveal nothing of the teleporters to anyone outside of the building. Keira hadn't even told Tess and Azyma about it yet. While the others muttered amongst themselves, she reflected on the recent events, drifting between her recent memories and the present moment.
Today had been extremely interesting. Those teleporter panels they had installed in the vehicles would provide a great leap forwards for the Freedom League and the city at large, there was no doubt about that. Only a few hours ago they had completed the first batch of six. Although it had been less physically demanding compared to, say, replacing an entire engine, the wiring had proved rather complicated and messy and required a lot of concentration, taking apart the dashboards and threading veins of new wires throughout the chassis, from the cockpit controls to the engines and all other major components. Keira looked down at her fingers which still bore the imprints of the metal filaments she had been fiddling with, as well as a few tiny burn marks from when she had received a quick but painful shock from the electrics. She pressed the sorest finger to her lips and gently sucked it, and she could still taste the metal.
"That scientist guy was weird, though," said someone across the table.
"Yeah," agreed almost everybody.
"Did you see it when he leaned in right over my shoulder?" said someone. "I was half-expecting to feel his hand on my ass at any moment!"
"Or maybe it wasn't his hand," said someone else cheekily, prompting a raucous burst of laughing.
Keira made an embarrassed, awkward expression to herself, thankful that she wasn't actively involved in the conversation right at this very moment. Most of the time, the men behaved themselves very well when she was in their company, but a few drinks in the evening could tempt out their more puerile side, which Vis had surreptitiously warned her was usually their default state whenever she wasn't around.
She retreated back to her thoughts to escape it, mentally replaying the moment when Vis came back into the workshop in the late afternoon to check up on the progress, accompanied by city officials again. She caught him sharing a few brief words with the awkward scientist who had been supervising everyone so closely, then with another order, everyone stopped working and cleared the area around one of the newly upgraded vehicles.
The mechanics, who had still not been fully debriefed as to the exact nature of the upgrades they had just installed, watched and listened with curiosity, waiting for their next instructions. The scientist then stepped up to the vehicle and reached into the cockpit, evidently pressing buttons on the newly installed dashboard while checking something against a pad of notes. Several of the mechanics, Keira included, automatically took a few steps closer to see exactly what he was doing, but Vis ordered them back again urgently.
Then the scientist quickly pulled out of the cockpit and hurried back to the crowd, as if he'd just activated a bomb or something. Keira remembered feeling apprehensive and suspicious, but not ten seconds later, the hangar suddenly lit up with bright light, and a loud blast of air sent Keira's hair lashing around her face. There were a few yells of surprise, and many of the workers and other officials present automatically flinched or ducked for cover at the sound. Keira herself made a little scream of fright and shielded herself with her arms, because not only was it an unexpected shock, but it was also the very noise that always heralded the sudden arrival of an enemy attack fleet, and all the city had become conditioned to expect death and violence whenever it was heard. But afterwards there was silence. When Keira lowered her arms and rubbed away the bright spots in her vision, she looked upon the cruiser again. But what cruiser? There was now only an empty space where it had once stood. It had vanished!
A swarm of voices broke out in the workshop, mutters and exclamations of astonishment, shock, and confusion. But Vis did not budge from his position, his handheld radio pressed attentively to his ear. Moments later, a proud, confident smile came to his face. Keira could not hear the transmission he apparently received over the commotion all around her, but soon he stepped up before them all and raised his hands. A hush gradually fell.
"What you have just witnessed," he announced intrepidly, "Is our future!"
He went on to confirm what the mechanics had all suspected as they had worked, that this was indeed the teleporter technology salvaged from their enemy's fallen aircrafts, finally adapted for their own use. Then, he warmly thanked them for their dedicated effort in completing these upgrades so swiftly and efficiently. The mechanics all felt inspired by his words, but he spoke as if the work was not over yet. He then selected a few of them to remain behind in the hangar in case their skills were needed again this evening, but he did not elaborate exactly what for. To the rest of them he gave what was left of the day off, and said they were dismissed. Even though it was mitigated and phrased in a way that made it sound like they had a choice, everyone, including Keira, could tell that it was actually intended as an order, and one not to be questioned.
"Strange how they just made us leave at the end though, wasn't it?" said someone two seats away from Keira. This comment, congruent with the point she had reached in her thoughts, drew her back to her current whereabouts at the table in the pub.
Someone else shrugged. "Maybe they were just rewarding us for all the hard work we've been doing these past few days."
"Ha, I'll drink to that!" said a third guy with a grin, prompting many to raise their glasses again. Several clinks rang out as they met together with each other, and then everyone took another swig.
Keira drank too, but modestly, more preoccupied with working out what this all meant. Regardless of their important achievements today, she was sure that that was not the true reason why they had all been dismissed. Something about it did seem rather forced and secretive, she had to admit, and there was a shared agreement amongst them all that they had not been told absolutely everything that was going on.
Unfortunately, despite her obvious talent that was by now well-proven, Keira had not been selected as one of the few to remain behind, but she wished she had been, even if it did mean more hard work late into the night. That way she may at least have a chance of finding out what they were really planning. Though it frequently itched in the back of her mind, it was offset by an excited anticipation; with these new teleporters, Keira now felt that there was a really improved chance of finding Jak. But just like everyone else, she hoped that all would be made clear tomorrow. She could wait. Work was over for today, and now was the time to relax, switch her mind off for a bit — something which she admitted to herself she did not do often enough. She took another small sip from her glass.
"Hey guys! Everything still alright here?"
The pleasant, happy voice brought the hushed conversations to an abrupt close. Azyma had appeared by the table side again, smiling and humble, and the men's attention was drawn straight to her.
"Oh yeah, great!" they all said at once in several different variations.
"I noticed some of your drinks were getting a bit low again," Azyma continued, her bright smile never failing. "Can I get you any more?"
"Oh sure! Yes please!" said everyone, passing their glasses along to her. Keira finished off the last few drops that were in hers before adding it to the collection.
"Another one for you as well, Keira?" Azyma asked, not forgetting her green-haired friend.
"No thanks, Azyma," Keira answered politely. "I think I've had enough for tonight."
Azyma accepted and winked, and continued arranging the emptied glasses carefully on her tray. As she made her way back to the bar counter with it, the conversation around the table changed.
"I do like her," said one of the mechanics with a sort of dreamy smile on his face.
"She sure is cute," added another in agreement, and this instigated several more comments or nods of approval.
Keira didn't like to say anything, but now she thought about it, even she had to admit to herself that Azyma was indeed a very lovely person, both in looks and in personality, and she was certainly putting her best efforts into her work tonight. This was not the first time she had paid a visit to their table this evening, and it surely wouldn't be the last either. In fact, she seemed bolder than usual tonight, going out of her way to provide excellent service and company to their table in particular. Sometimes she hung around and tried to chat for however long she could afford to, before she was inevitably drawn away by other duties and customers in the crowded bar, but her presence was always greatly appreciated, no matter how small.
It wasn't long before she was back again, weighed down with the next tray of drinks. "Here you go, guys," she said, setting it down and passing the glasses around. Everyone thanked her very sincerely. "If you'd like anything else, just give me a wave and I'll be right over."
Unencumbered by the drinks, she walked back to the bar again, more freely this time, and many of the mechanics' eyes lingered on her, watching how her beautiful, long black hair swished at her back. At least, that was what Keira assumed had them captivated.
At the red crack of dawn, six Hellcat cruisers slowed to a hovering halt in the mountains far from the city limits. Piloting the leading cruiser was Vis. He rubbed his eye with one hand, fighting back the exhaustion of the long night of preparation. He hadn't slept a wink, continually evaluating the plans and working with his men and the scientists to learn how to operate the new teleporters in these vehicles. But he was confident in himself and kept his tiredness at bay; he had gone for longer periods than this without sleep before, and he would never let his own personal needs override his dedication to Haven. He looked back, spotting his five wingmen in formation behind him, then he reached for his radio.
"HQ, this is Vis. We are in position. Are you reading us?"
In the Freedom League control room, Samos was nodding in his place by the monitor, forcing himself to stay awake. He too had not slept this night, and his old and tired eyes scanned the screens before him, while on all sides his men operated the computers, and city officials watched everything unfold with great attentiveness. Everyone was alert, and as an operator fiddled with some dials at the radio station, Vis's words were heard through the room.
Samos responded. "Vis, this is HQ. We hear you loud and clear. It looks like the new radio masts are functioning perfectly."
Vis glanced up at the mountain on their left, and spied on its summit, half-hidden in dreary cloud, a tall communications mast that stood like a lightning rod. There was now a chain of these anchored to the most prominent peaks, forming an invisible highway through the range on which signals could travel, relayed from post to post, and further out into the world. A screen in the control room displayed them as a series of nodes on a map, and they all blinked in unison. Samos was grateful to the men whose task it had been to get them set up yesterday, working through the evening and into the night. For such an important mission as this, real-time communication was essential, and now they had it. But would they be able to beam their voices the distance that Vis and his team were about to travel?
It had all been agreed yesterday in a hastily organised council meeting. This strange smoke signal had to be investigated, they had to find out what it really was, and the time had now come to make that great leap.
"OK, Vis. Begin when ready," Samos said, "And good luck."
"Thank you, Samos," said Vis, then he spoke to his men. "Alright men, this is it. Get ready."
Vis opened up his cruiser's new navigation panel, while behind him all of his men did the same. A bright keypad and screen glistened back at each of them, already bearing the co-ordinates of their destination, and a single large green button that would set their mission in motion. All was set, and a dozen fingers hovered over those buttons. Their nerves were shaking, despite the successful test runs back and forth to the drill platform that they had completed during the night. This time they were headed out into the far unknown. Even Vis felt apprehensive. They had done everything they could in preparation, but they were taking a risk using these prototypes, only so recently born.
"OK, here we go. Initiating teleporters in three, two, one..."
A flash of light illuminated the mountain slopes and a whoosh of air surged and echoed through the canyons. On the Freedom HQ scanners, the blips that represented Vis and his team disappeared.
Far away, the undisturbed silence of the far ocean was broken by that same loud blast, and the six Freedom League cruisers rematerialized from thin air. The pilots onboard were momentarily disorientated, their eyes burned with the bright residue of the teleportation, and most of their insides felt left behind miles away. In the cockpit of the leading vehicle, Vis blinked away the nauseating discomfort with a painful grimace, then looked down at the new panel on his dashboard again, which indicated that the teleportation was complete. Then he looked out through his windows to survey his new surroundings.
First he looked behind him, and counted five other cruisers. Good, they had all made it. Then he looked ahead. The twilit ocean that spanned beneath them was vast and deep, no sign of any land for miles in a full circle. They had no idea even of the direction of home. Vis swallowed, remembering the last time he had been out here this far, on the day of the great battle that he had almost not survived. The same skies still bore the ominous colour of blood as the sun began its ascent, but straight ahead, he sighted what they had come here to investigate. From this distance it was nothing more than a slowly growing smudge on the horizon, a cloud blacker than its surrounding brethren, but there was no mistaking it; it was definitely smoke.
With an unsettled feeling still in his stomach, Vis reached for his onboard radio. "HQ, HQ, can you still read us?"
In the Freedom League control room many miles behind them, his voice crackled through the speakers, weaker than before, but definitely understandable.
Samos answered. "Yes, we hear you, Vis. Was the teleportation successful?"
"Affirmative," Vis answered after a few seconds. "That was one hell of a ride, but we're all OK."
Throughout the control room, there were many sighs of relief. "Good," replied Samos. "What do you see?"
"We're over the ocean," answered Vis. "Smoke has been sighted in the distance, still burning. We're beginning our approach, stand by. Alright men, advance."
The team began to accelerate over the empty ocean in the early light, towards their enigmatic target. The pilots did not stop or deviate from their destination dead ahead, but occasionally they scanned their eyes over the dark waters as they flew, the waters that had swallowed so many of their comrades. Even so far from home, they hoped they might see a sign of life, keeping an eye open for their lost men even on their way to this mysterious smoke cloud. But they never saw anything breaking the pattern of the shifting waves below. Out here it was completely still and lonely, not a soul, not a sound, nothing but the endless churning of the wind on the waters and the drone of their engines.
Back in the control room far away, everyone remained at their posts waiting patiently. One of the city councillors slowly made his way to Samos. "I'm still not sure about this," he said warily. "You remember what happened the last time we went to check an unidentified signal far beyond the city's reach."
Samos bowed his head, feeling the weariness again. "I know."
Another councillor stepped up by his other shoulder. "But what if it's a signal from some our lost soldiers? They could still be out there, and if we ignore it, then all of our searching will be for nought."
Samos nodded his head again. This had all been discussed and argued many times already throughout the night, but the vote had been cast and the action was already in motion. "It must be done," said the old sage. "I know what is at stake, but we have learned from the last time, and we have some of our best men out there right now. They can be counted on, and they will not fail us."
For another hour, the brave explorers continued on their course, miles and miles of empty ocean passing beneath them. The smoke cloud billowed and grew the closer they advanced, spreading across the sky until it became a great tower swaying and bloating in the wind. All wondered what or who they may find at its base. Soon, the dark ocean below met with new land, another unexplored coastline similar in appearance to the dead wilderness on the other side of their mountains back home. The soil was grey and lifeless, dry and barren, but as they carried on towards the smoke, strange landmarks began to emerge. The earth blackened, pock-marked with steaming, toxic pools that increased in number with the distance, and heaps of organic refuse that sizzled in the rising sun with a very familiar stench. Metal Heads had been here, there was no doubt of it; everyone in Haven knew their mark. For the pilots this was an uncomfortable, tragic reminder of what they had done to the southern gardens back in the city during the civil war, contaminating the soil and breeding corrupted life forms from stinking, smoking pits of slime and dark eco.
It got worse the further they went. But this place, however, appeared not to have seen Metal Head activity for quite some time, and their dark creations had completely overgrown and seized the land for themselves. The very earth hissed with primordial life, as pulsing mounds of dark matter swelled and vomited choking air, and fuming plants seemed to snarl and bite at the sun itself. A deep cloud of poisonous green mist swirled and rippled below like a body of water, and the cruisers had to pitch up to above this dangerous layer to cleaner air, for the fumes alone were enough to cause their engines to splutter and shake. The rotten stench seeped into the cockpits and made the pilots feel nauseous, and some had to strap on the oxygen masks of their helmets. On and on it went for miles in all directions, a living, sick wasteland.
But it was not this terrible place that was the source of the smoke seen from afar. That still lay ahead by several leagues, billowing black and flying high. Its true source could not be determined at this distance, hidden by the choking mist. They had to get closer still.
Vis swallowed the bile fighting its way up his throat, and relayed another update back to the city. "HQ, can you still read us?"
"Yes," spoke Samos in the control centre. The signal was starting to falter significantly from the distance, but it was still just decipherable. "Do you have an update?"
"We've reached new land," said Vis. "It's infested with Metal Head corruption, but it's grown right out of control. I've never seen it this bad before. The smoke tower is still ahead, we're almost on top of it. It's weird... it's like it's coming out of the earth itself. We're heading closer."
"Alright, but be careful," said Samos. He could imagine with regrettable vividness what sort of landscape lay before them, but was thankful that he could not see for himself what Vis described. The Metal Heads were a cancer to all that was green and healthy in this world, and how those poor plants must be screaming.
The pilots continued cautiously and bravely, each forming their own predictions about what they may find at the foot of this smoke cloud. Their initial hopeful speculations, that it might be some of their own survivors from the battle trying to signal that they were still alive, began to feel more unlikely as they beheld the growing body of the smoke. It was far too huge for a small number of people to ever create. This was something else. Had the heat of the sunlight somehow ignited the volatile gasses below? Or had some other sentient force caused this? Could it even be the Metal Heads themselves, returning to reclaim control of this rotten land, battling and burning through their own hideous spawns?
But when the cruisers finally drew close enough, the acid mists parted around the base of the smoke like waves lapping on an island, and here they discovered that the smoke met with stone, a rock formation as huge and black as the plume itself. It was a solitary mountain, and the smoke poured from about half way up its height, where it blew upwards and outwards into the sky, poisoning the highest clouds. The true roots of the mountain could not be seen, still concealed in the cloudy lake of green mist. But there were the great flames, higher than buildings and hotter than a furnace, strangling the mountain with their ravenous ferocity.
"HQ, the smoke's coming out of a mountain," said Vis, and his crackling words were heard back in the expectant control room. Everyone drew around closer to listen. This was it.
"You mean like a volcano?" asked Samos with conflicted interest. Could it be that what he thought was a conscious attempt at a smoke signal was in fact just a natural phenomenon?
"Yes, and no..." said Vis with confusion. "It's... wait..."
He hovered in as close as he dared, and could see something artificial amid the flames and the smoke: something metallic, blackened and melting in great cascades that flowed like magma down the rock face, into the choking depths below.
"There's something down there!" he said urgently. "There's something burning on the mountain side! It looks like some kind of machinery or something."
Everyone in the control room looked at each other in alarmed intrigue, trying to picture what was described. What could this be? They listened on in silence, none daring to speak.
The cruisers slowly circumnavigated the entire mountain. The scene was the same from all sides, the thick smoke fully engulfing the upper reaches of the mountain and whatever lay upon it. Now they could even feel the intense heat through their cockpit windows, and their engines beeped with overheating warnings if they got too close. But when the wind blew openings in the smoke, parts of what was burning were revealed.
"It's a structure," said Vis, serious but amazed. "It's like a big metal ring built around the mountain."
"Sir!" someone shouted.
Everyone tensed up, expecting danger. The voice had come from one of the other scouts, who through his window could be seen pointing not at the mountain, but to his own control panel. Vis and the others checked theirs, and from the new navigation screens, read out the co-ordinates that signified their present position. Vis felt his skin freeze over, even in the heat of the great fire. He recognised those numbers, and a wave of realisation roared over him with all the heat and ferocity of the fire itself.
"Vis, what's happened? Report!" ordered Samos with aggressive worry.
"This is it..." said Vis, slowly and quietly, as he lay eyes upon the fiery mountain again. "We're here... This is the enemy city..."